Maternal infections during pregnancy have been associated with
a wide variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders in the
offspring, such as cerebral palsy [1–3], epilepsy [4–6] autism [7–
10] and schizophrenia [11], respectively. These associations have
also been observed in animal studies. [12,13] However, the lack of
specificity related to both the exposures and the outcomes suggests
that underlying factors correlated with maternal infections may
play a role. Considering a family history of autoimmune disease is
associated with autism in the offspring [14], underlying factors
with other outcomes could also be related to impaired maternal
immune function. If so, we would expect to see associations
between maternal infections occurring before pregnancy, as an
indicator of impaired immune function, and the risk of childhood
neurological disorders, even in mothers without reported infections
during pregnancy. In regards to genetic causation, paternal
infection may also be associated with an increased risk of these
outcomes in the offspring.
We conducted a population-based cohort study to examine
whether the risk of cerebral palsy and epilepsy in the offspring
is related to maternal (or paternal) infections occurring either
during pregnancy or within the five year period before pregnancy.
The underlying hypothesis is that maternal infections occurring
before pregnancy increases the risk of cerebral palsy and epilepsy
in the offspring. Under the hypothesis we would expect no
associations between paternal infections and the outcomes under
study.
PLOS